• Journal of international Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.312-316
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• 2014

This paper describes a turnout without movable parts for magnetically levitated vehicles with hybrid magnets, which have been studied by the authors in place of streetcars. Their low construction cost and low maintenance is key to their practical use. Magnetic levitation systems using forces of attraction can generate guidance force automatically, but the damping force against lateral motion is negligible. However, the lateral damping characteristic was improved by using divided iron type magnets and rails. Using this turnout without movable parts will facilitate smooth direction switching.

• Journal of international Conference on Electrical Machines and Systems
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.200-206
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• 2014

This paper describes magnetically levitated vehicle with hybrid magnets, which have been studied by the authors in place of streetcars or conveyance system. An experimental vehicle of 20kg was magnetically levitated by using a small number of dry-cell batteries, which consisted of 10 Ni-MH cells of 1900mAh in series. The magnets were activated sequentially, because the internal resistance of the batteries suppressed the maximum current. The vehicle was kept levitating for about 2 hours and was stable against disturbance due to instantaneous external force. In this paper, dynamic characteristics of the magnetically levitated vehicle using a small number of dry cell batteries are presented.